1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a connector that is mountable on a panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,779,500 and FIG. 29 herein show a connector that is mountable on a door panel of an automotive vehicle. As shown in FIG. 29, the connector has a housing 1 with a flange 2 and a lock 3. The lock 3 passes through a mount hole H in a panel P and engages a first surface of the panel P. Simultaneously, the flange 2 engages the second surface of the panel P. Thus, the panel P is held between the lock 3 and the flange 2 to secure the housing 1 on the panel P.
An operator may mistakenly believe that the housing 1 has been mounted properly on the panel P and may stop the mounting operation even though the housing 1 has been mounted only partly. The partly mounted housing 1 is not fixed firmly to the panel P and may cause problems.
The invention was developed in view of the above problem, and an object of the invention is to prevent a connector housing from being left partly mounted on a panel.
The invention relates to a connector with a housing that can be mounted through a through hole in a panel and then connected with a mating housing. A detector is mountable into the housing or the panel and has a mount detecting portion and a connection-detecting portion. The detector is successively movable between a standby position, a mount detecting position and a connection detecting position. The movement of the detector is along a direction intersecting a mounting direction of the housing on the panel and/or a connecting direction of the two housings. The housing or the panel interferes with the mount-detecting portion while the housing is being mounted on the panel and prevents the detector from moving toward the standby position. However, the mount-detecting portion does not interfere with the housing or the panel when the housing is mounted properly. Thus, the detector can move toward the mount detecting position when the housing is mounted properly. The connection-detecting portion interferes with the mating housing while the mating housing is being connected with the housing mounted on the panel and prevents movement of the detector from the mount detecting position toward the connection detecting position. However, the connection-detecting portion does not interfere with the mating housing when the two housings are connected properly and, hence, the detector can move toward the connection detecting position.
The detector can be moved from the standby position to the mount-detecting position when the housing is mounted properly on the panel because the mount-detecting portion does not interfere with the housing or the panel. On the other hand, movement of the detector from the standby position to the mount-detecting position is prevented while the housing is being mounted on the panel due to interference of the mount-detecting portion with the other of the housing and the panel. In this way, the mounted state of the housing on the panel can be detected based on whether the detector can be moved from the standby position to the mount-detecting position.
The connection-detecting portion does not interfere with the mating housing if the two housings are connected properly. Thus, the detector can be moved from the mount-detecting position to the connection-detecting position when the mating housing is connected with the housing on the panel. The detector cannot be moved toward the connection-detecting position when the two housings are connected partly because the connection-detecting portion interferes with the mating housing. In this way, the connected state of the two housings can be detected based on whether the detector can be moved from the mount-detecting position toward the connection-detecting position.
A mounting direction of the housing on the panel preferably is substantially parallel with the connecting direction of the two housings.
The connection detecting position preferably is substantially the same as the standby position.
The detector reciprocates between the two positions. Thus, operability is improved and the construction is simplified.
The connection-detecting portion preferably engages the mating housing as the detector is moved from the mount-detecting position to the connection-detecting position to lock the connectors together.
The housing preferably is mounted from the rear side of the panel, and the detector preferably includes an operable portion that is accessible from the front side of the panel for moving the detector. Thus, even though the housing is mounted from the rear side of the panel, the detector can be moved from the front side of the panel, i.e. from the side of an operator.
The detector preferably comprises an insertion recess that allows passage of a rib on the mating housing when the detector is at the mount-detecting position. Additionally, the housing may comprise a rib-receiving portion for accommodating the rib. The rib-receiving portion substantially aligns with the insertion recess when the detector is at the mount-detecting position.
The housing preferably includes a holding means for holding the housing on the panel. The holding means preferably comprises a contact portion for contacting a first surface of the panel. The holding means also comprises a securing portion and a resilient lock for contacting a second surface of the panel and tightly holding the panel against the contact portion. The securing portion first is passed through the mount hole and engages the panel. The resilient lock then is deformed by an edge of the mount hole, passes through the mount hole and engages the panel.
The detecting portion preferably has a guide surface for correcting the posture of the housing to a proper mounting posture by sliding in contact with the mount hole when an attempt is made to move the detector to the mount detecting position before the connector housing is mounted properly.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent upon reading of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments and accompanying drawings. It should be understood that even though embodiments are separately described, single features thereof may be combined to additional embodiments.